Breakdown of Prima della partenza, saremo scesi al binario.
essere
to be
a
to / at
del
of the; than the (di + il)
prima
before, earlier
scendere
to get off, to go down
il binario
the platform
la partenza
the departure
Questions & Answers about Prima della partenza, saremo scesi al binario.
Why does this sentence use saremo instead of avremo for 'we will have'?
The main verb is scendere (to go down), which is a verb of motion. In compound tenses like the future perfect, verbs of motion take essere (to be) as their helping verb. Therefore, we use the future tense of essere, which is saremo, rather than avere.
Why does the past participle scesi end in an -i instead of an -o?
Whenever a compound tense uses essere as the helping verb, the past participle has to agree with the subject in gender and number. The subject here is 'we' (implied by the ending of saremo), which is plural. Therefore, the base form sceso changes to the plural scesi (or scese for an all-female group).
Why is it Prima della partenza and not just Prima la partenza?
Does scendere only mean to 'go down'?
Not at all! While it translates to 'gone down' in this platform context, scendere is also the standard verb for getting off public transport like trains, buses, or planes. For example, scendere dal treno means to get off the train.
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